Weeds and the Biosecurity Act

Weeds management is now legislated under the Biosecurity Act 2015 and Biosecurity Regulation 2017 Councils are the local control authorities for weeds under the Act.

Biosecurity means protecting the economy, environment, and the community from the negative impacts of pests, diseases, and weeds.

Weeds biosecurity includes:

·       Preventing the entry of new weeds

·       Finding, containing, and eradicating emerging weeds

·       Minimising the impacts from weeds that cannot be eradicated.

General Biosecurity Duty (Section 22 of the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015)

Under the Act, all people who deal with plants through their commercial, professional, volunteer, recreational or lifestyle activities have a duty to be aware of the impacts the plants they deal with might cause and must take action to remove or reduce the likelihood of those impacts occurring.

Priority Weeds

Weeds are regulated under the Act according to the risk they pose to the environment, community, and economy. Weeds that create the highest level of risk are called priority weeds. Management action is directed toward priority weeds.

Priority weeds for our region are listed in the Murray Regional Strategic Weed Management Plan and on NSW WeedWise. ERC may also prioritise other weeds for management.

Regional Weed Management Categories

Prevention        

To prevent the weed species arriving and establishing in the region. 

Weeds currently not found in the region, that pose a significant biosecurity risk and the prevention of the biosecurity risk posed by these weeds is a reasonably practicable objective.

Eradication

To permanently remove the species and its propagules from the region OR to destroy infestations to reduce the extent of the weed in the region with the aim of local eradication.

Weeds are present in limited abundance in the region. Elimination of the biosecurity risk posed by these weeds is a reasonably practicable objective.

Containment

To prevent the ongoing spread of the species in all or part of the region.

These weeds are widely distributed in parts of the region. While broadscale elimination is not practicable, minimization of the biosecurity risk posed by these weeds is reasonably practicable.

Asset protection

To prevent the spread of weeds to key sites/assets of high economic, environmental, and social value, or to reduce their impact on these sites if spread has already occurred.

These weeds are widely distributed in some areas of the region, their spread should be minimised to protect priority regional assets.

Additional Information


·       Priority Weeds of the Murray and Riverina Identification Guide

·       Murray Regional Strategic Weed Management Plan 2023-2027

·       NSW Department of Primary Industries 

·       NSW WeedWise 

·      Farm Biosecurity 


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